Home
by CyanideGenocide
Summary: Toontown was raided by Club Penguin and taken over. Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

I threw a cream pie and it landed right in the cogs face. I watched its heart turn blood red and blink violently. But it wasn't a heart. Cogs didn't have emotions.  
It exploded and I did a small victory dance. I walked to the farthest side of the room to the elevator opening and rode down to ground level. My first solo 3-story building was complete. I exited the building back onto Punchline Place. There was surprisingly no one around. At least, no toons. I ruffled my blue hair back in distraught. It was rare for nobody to be on the streets. I started walking towards the street to Donald's Dock. I used the sidewalks to ignore the cogs that crossed my way. I turned to my left and walked into Professor Wiggle's House of Giggles.  
I walked in and the place was dark. All of the lights were off and the windows were shut. His chair was tipped over and he was gone. Something wasn't right. I mean, this was a house of giggles for gods sake. Plus whenever Professor Wiggle needed something he would either have me get it for him or ask me to look after the store while he was gone. This wasn't good at all.  
Suddenly I heard a large racket outside. It sounded different- not like a cog building being built- but like somebody was being attacked... By a toon.  
I ran outside the door. The noise was coming from The Flying Pie. I tried to open the door to find that it wouldn't budge. I backed up and ran with full force into the door. The force from my shoulder and side made it open. Ned Slinger, the owner of The Flying Pie, was fighting someone.  
They didn't look like a Toon. They had black hair and incredibly pale skin. In fact, they reminded me of a member of Club Penguin.  
Club Penguin was a cult founded a few years back. They grew and kept growing until they made their own community. The first members were born here in Toontown, but now most of them lived in the deep snowy south. They were constantly giving Toontown nuclear war threats, but never actually attacked us. Perhaps that was happening now?  
The cult member turned to look at me. I noticed she was girl, younger than me. She looked around 15. She was crouched above Ned, holding a sword to his throat.  
Swords... I thought they were only sold in Jamaa. I quickly pulled out my seltzer bottle and squirted her. Of course it didn't hurt her, but it stalled her long enough for Ned to throw her off of him and take her sword.  
"Give my fucking sword to me!" She tried to grab it, but her vision was blurred by the water. Ned kicked her in the knee. She fell to the ground, clutching her leg in pain.  
"Just fucking go!" She screamed. Ned grabbed his jacket from the coat hanger and sprinted outside, grabbing my arm.  
"What the heck was that?" I asked, as we started walking towards Toontown Central.  
"The penguins. They've finally attacked us."  
So it was true. Did they find Professor Wiggle?  
"What about Sir Astro?" I ask. He ran a small nightclub on Punchline Place. He was also a general in the first world war.  
Back when Club Penguin wasn't formed.  
"I thought you weren't into sugar anymore," Ned says.  
"Hey, I'm not." After the first world war Sir Astro had been affected by PTSD, and he became addicted to sugar to help him recover. He became a well-known sugar dealer, and, well, I had been addicted at some point.  
"You know he's clean now," I remind Ned.  
"Well I don't know what happened to him." Ned picked up the pace and almost jogged towards the playground.  
"Where exactly are we going?" I ask.  
"The Headquarters. The penguins have ambushed and stolen our resources. They've stolen our land." What?!  
"Wait, what happens after we go to the Headquarters?" I ask.  
"I don't know!"  
We reached the tunnel and made our way through it quickly. I thought back to the sword the penguin member was carrying. It looked like it was imported from Jamaa. I didn't think that Jamaa was allies with them, but apparently they were. We reached the playground and sped to the headquarters.  
We opened the door and body heat attacked us. There were so many toons crowded into the building. Voices filled the building until one loud voice rung above all.  
"Everyone be quiet!" I recognized the voice. It was Jesse, the founder of Toontown. He was our leader and the person we turned to.  
"Now... It isn't safe here. We need to move somewhere else, start a new community if we need to." He held up a map. "For now we will live in the outskirts of Jamaa."  
Jamaa? Did he not know that they probably helping the penguins?  
"We have to leave as soon as possible. If anybody is hurt from the attacks, Nurse Nancy will patch you up." Jesse jumped down from the desk he was standing on. Ned took out the sword and started walking towards Jesse. I put my arm in front of him.  
"You get patched up," I say, examining the cuts on his face.  
"But what about the sword?! Jesse has to know that Jamaa is their ally!" So he picked up on it too.  
"I'll give him the sword. Your wounds look pretty bad." Ned hesitantly gave me the sword. I made my way through the crowd and found Jesse.  
"Jesse!" I yell. I doubt he would remember me. He turned around at the sound of his name. I approached him and showed him the sword.  
"Look. It's from Jamaa." Jesse took the sword from my hands and examined it. He sighed.  
"Where are we going to go?" I ask. If Jamaa found us we would probably be sold to slavery.  
"There's nowhere else to go besides the Jamaarian outskirts. We're just going to have to risk it."  
"What about Neopia?" I ask.  
"They aren't exactly friendly there," Jesse says. "Especially the Tyrannians." Jesse was right. If Tyrannians found us then we would be killed instantly. Not to mention the other barbaric societies in Neopia. Witchcraft and necromancy were also common in certain parts of Neopia.  
"You're right about that... What about Monstro city?"  
"Monstro city wouldn't give two fucks about Toontown." Man, I've never seen Jesse this mad.  
"Webkinz?" I ask. After that there were no more options.  
"Half of that country is filled with little kids. I highly doubt they would be any help."  
"So we're going to directly ask Jamaa for shelter?"  
"If it comes to it. We'll live in the outskirts at first. Hopefully we won't need their help."  
I took a good look around the room. There were tons of toons. Some of them had their doodles with them.  
Ravioli...  
I needed to get my pet.  
I made my way to the other side of the room where Ned's cuts were being tended to.  
"I'm going to my estate to get Ravioli," I tell him.  
"Are you crazy?!" Ned yells at me. "You're going to get killed out there."  
"I'll find someone to come with me," I say. I turn to Nurse Nancy.  
"Do you know if the gag shop is open?" I ask. She nodded.  
"They are selling gags to toons for the journey."  
"Thanks," I say. It would still be nice to have someone come with me. But I suppose that wasn't an option.  
I exited the headquarters. I crossed the bright green plain to the gag shop. I would stock up on all of my gags- definitely sound and drop. I opened the door and found a familiar figure leaned over the desk.  
"What do you mean you don't sell to criminals?!" The guy said. Clerk Clark was irritated.  
"You are holding up the line, Sir."  
"Astro," I say. "Let him be." The man turned around.  
He was Sir Astro. His grey-tipped dark brown hair and eye patch gave it away instantly. He was almost at least a foot taller than me. He was wearing a brown leather jacket and black pants. His shoes were scuffed, torn up boots.  
"Neapolitan. I thought you were sober."  
"I thought the same about you." I hadn't seen Sir Astro for months. After I stopped doing sugar we didn't have any reason to talk to each other. Despite what people said, he was a good guy.  
"I am! But this red head-" he points his thumb to clerk Clark "-won't let me buy gags because of my past." I raise an eyebrow. Clerk Clark sighs.  
"He doesn't have any jellybeans on him." I roll my eyes at Sir Astro.  
"Have you been taking your medication?" I ask him, partially joking.  
"Well-" I cut him off.  
"Look, I need some help. If you come with me I can give you some jellybeans. I have some on me that can help us make the journey," I say.  
"Wait, what exactly is it you want me to do?" He asks.  
"I have to make a journey to my estate. To get Ravioli." Sir Astro grunted and smoothed his hair back.  
"I take that as a yes?" I ask.  
"Sure, kid." Sine Sir Astro was already in the front of the line, so all I had to do was pay for my gags.  
I pulled out my small canvas bag of jellybeans. I stuck my hand in the bag to get out a few jellybeans.  
I wore a pair of white gloves. They had a hole in the knuckles and ended at the base of my fingers. They were stained different colors on my palms from years of handling a variety of jellybeans.  
I took some flower pots and bike horns, then the usual pies and seltzer bottles. I stuck the gags in my brown backpack. It was torn up and scratched to oblivion, and had several stains from pies and cupcakes on the inside. It had very faint lighter brown stripes that went horizontal and the zippers were black.  
"This should stall the penguins," I say, and turn around to face the door.  
"I don't think you should be doing this." I turn back around to find Clerk Clark staring at me.  
"What do you mean?" I ask.  
"It's suicide." Suicide? Just how bad were the attacks?  
"Have they made their way to any of the playgrounds?" I ask. Clark shakes his head.  
"I don't know. Everyone just fled." I paused for a moment, thinking.  
"I can't let them take Ravioli."  
"Neapolit-" I cut Clerk Clark off.  
"I'm sorry. I can't." Sir Astro was already waiting at the door, tapping his foot.  
"I'll be back," I say, as I walk to the door.  
"Neapolitan!" I ignore his call.  
About 15 minutes later we crossed the tunnel to my neighborhood. Sir Astro was keeping good pace.  
"Okay, I'm just going to run in, get some jellybeans and Ravioli, then come out."  
"I better get a lot of money," Sir Astro says.  
"Oh?"  
"Escorting kids isn't exactly what I do for a living."  
"No, you sell drugs for a living," I joke. I hear him chuckle.  
"How much do you want?" I ask.  
"Seriously?!"  
"I'm a bit of a tightwad," I joke. Cog jokes were the best.  
"And that makes sense how...?"  
"Well, if you haven't noticed, there isn't much use for Jellybeans anymore. I just need enough to feed Ravioli and buy a few more gags."  
"Well damn." I opened the door to my green house. It was quite barren- I didn't spend much time at my house. I whistled for Ravioli and he came running. I picked him up and hugged him close to my chest.  
"Don't you have a pet?" I ask Sir Astro as we made our way into my bedroom where my bank was.  
"Used to. Too much of a hassle. Didn't really see the point in havin' one." I set Ravioli onto my bed and turned to the bank. I crammed as much as I could into my tiny canvas bag I had with me at all times. I filled my bigger bag with Jelly beans, then handed the remaining beans to Sir Astro.  
"That's about 200," I tell him.  
"Damn!" I stuffed the bags into my backpack then picked up Ravioli.  
"Hey I thought you were rich," I say.  
"A lot of people stopped buying sugar a few weeks after you quit," Sir Astro says, examining the jellybeans in his hand then pulling out his canvas bag from his jacket pocket.  
Then we heard a splash in the water by my house. I handed Sir Astro a seltzer bottle and I took out a water gun. I set Ravioli on my bed. We rushed outside and found the girl that had attacked Ned Slinger shoving somebody's head under the water. I recognized the person as Professor Wiggle. His sienna hair was clearly visible in the pure water. Sir Astro shot her with the seltzer bottle. The force was enough to send her backwards into the pond. Professor Wiggle's head appeared over the surface of the water and he gasped for air.  
"Professor!" I yell. I run to his side and lift him out of the water. His orange shirt was plastered to his chest from the water. I help him up and out of my peripheral vision I see Sir Astro beating the girl.  
"What are you doing here?" I ask him, ignoring Astro. He coughed out some water.  
"I was-" He stopped to cough again and cleared his throat-"Donald's dock." I looked at him.  
"What happened?"  
"The penguins raided the ship. I thought you might be at your estate hiding." Hiding. He thought I would hide?  
"Where's Donald?" I ask. Donald Fauntleroy Duck was the captain of the ship that made rounds in Donald's Dock. He spent his days running the ship and returned to his Dreamland at night.  
"We were both taken hostage. I managed to escape, but he's still in there. They had swords Neapolitan. Swords imported from Jamaa."  
"I know," I say. "Why were you looking for me?" I add.  
"I thought you could help me rescue Donald." Really? Weren't you just saying a minute ago about how I was probably hiding?  
"Guys! Can we go?" I look around Proffesor Wiggle's shoulder to see Sir Astro carrying the unconscious girl.  
"Why are you carrying her?" Wiggle asks.  
"I'm taking her back to headquarters for questioning." I sigh.  
"Fine. Let me just get Ravioli and we can get the hell out of here."  
We entered the main headquarters 20 minutes later. Luckily everybody was still inside. I heard barking noises and found where everybody was keeping their pets. I walked over to the area and set Ravioli down. I turn around to find Professor Wiggle watching me. I noticed his arm was bleeding.  
"Go see Nurse Nancy," I say. He nods and walks away. I see Sir Astro at one of the sides of the room. I walked up to him.  
"Where's the girl?" I ask him. He points to a room enclosed by glass. Inside was the black-haired penguin member. She was pounding against the glass. Jesse was standing beside Sir Astro.  
"She isn't telling us anything," Jesse says. I remembered what Professor Wiggle told me earlier about Donald.  
"Donald was taken hostage," I say to Jesse. He looks up from the girl to me.  
"What?"  
"Some penguins got him and Professor Wiggle. Obviously Professor escaped but Donald is still somewhere."  
"What are you saying?"  
"I'm saying I could use her," I say, pointing to the girl. "She was chasing Wiggle. I think she knows where Donald is." Jesse frowns at me.  
"Why don't you just ask Professor Wiggle where he is?"  
"Okay, I will." I walked to the other side of the room. He was being tended by Nurse Nancy.  
"Professor, where were you taken hostage?" I ask him. He turned his neck to look at me.  
"Donald's dock."  
"Where exactly?" I elaborate.  
"I don't know, Neapolitan. They blindfolded me." Damn.  
"Alright. I'll just have to have that girl escort me."

* * *

**This story has been in the works for a while. The original first chapter was posted on my DeviantART under the username growlithetroncat. Any other artwork, sims screenshots, etc, will be posted there as well. Updates will usually be posted there first.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

"Jesse!" I run up to him. He was lost in thought watching the girl. "Jesse?" I ask him again.  
"Ah Neapolitan. What's up? Did you figure out where Donald is?"  
"That's the thing. Professor Wiggle was blindfolded, so he has no idea where he was taken hostage. All he knows is that it was somewhere in Donald's Dock." Jesse frowned, then turned away from the glass to look at me.  
"So you need her," he says.  
"If you want me to save Donald."  
Donald was a political higher-up. He was old and white-haired, with a beard that stretched to his chest. He was a politician who also fought in the world war, which gave him the toons' respect. After the war he retired as a sailor to help the toons travel. His wife, Daisy, spent her days tending to her famous Daisy Gardens. Unfortunately, she passed away some time before Donald started his sailing career. After her death people had noticed how fast Donald had traveled downhill- he was extremely affected by her death. A short time ago he had started to lose his memory, but he had insisted on continuing to sail. Nobody had interfered with his career partly because we needed a way to travel, and partly because he was had such an impact on Toontown and deserved to be happy.  
"Of course I want you save Donald. You should get some sort of reinforcements for the girl though. She seems violent, and I can't have you dying on me."  
"Gotcha," I say.  
I had no idea where to begin. What would I need to restrain her? Handcuffs? Rope? She seemed to hate seltzer bottles, but they would run out. Perhaps some sort of rope to tie her hands together would be the best. Cogs used this extremely hard red tape on us toons- that would be the best way to go. But sadly if I wanted to get a hold of any of that I would have to make my way through a cog building. It was far too tricky and took too much time. But who would have rope? Perhaps nurse Nancy...  
I made my way to the other corner of the room to where Nurse Nancy was. She was tending to a red-headed girl who had terrible cuts all over her neck and face.  
"That's rough," I whisper to myself. Despite how quiet my voice was, Nurse Nancy looked up at me.  
She was an older woman with sienna colored hair. She had visible wrinkles along her mouth and eyes. She often wore a purple colored shirt.  
"Neapolitan, what are you doing here again?" She asked me, emphasizing the 'again.'  
"I was actually wondering if you had some sort of rope. I'm running an errand," I tell her, leaving out as many details as possible in case Jesse wanted me to keep it secret.  
"What kind of rope?" She asks me, not looking up from her patient.  
"Sturdy. Something that can restrain movement." She stopped what she was doing and looked up at me.  
"What kind of errand are you running exactly?" She questions.  
"I can't really- I mean, I don't think I can-"  
"There should be some rope imported from Tyrannia in my medical centre," she cuts me off. "Just please dear god don't get yourself killed."  
"Right." Imported from Tyrannia? It was probably the rope used to restrain the dinosaurs in the battles. I had heard that they got their rope imported from Pangaea- the world's leading producer in dinosaur-related things.  
"Hey Neo!" I half expected to turn around and find Sir Astro beckoning me, but there was only one toon who called me Neo.  
"Professor Wiggle!" I replied, as I turned around.  
"Where are you off to now?" He asks. He was sitting down in a seat, bandages wrapped all around his arms.  
"Medical centre." He frowned at me.  
"For what?"  
"Rope," I say. He sighed. But he knew I wouldn't give up just because he told me to.  
"Well can you do me a favor?"  
"Yeah, what do you need?"  
"Find Ned Slinger for me. He ran outside a while ago to get gags and hasn't come back since. I'm worried."  
"Will do. Bye Professor."  
I walked outside the door and was surprised to find the sun was fully set. Was it really the best time to do a mission? Oh well- I'll get the rope then bring it back to Jesse and see what he says.  
"Neapolitan!" I turn around to find Nurse Nancy chasing after me.  
"What? What's wrong?" I ask her.  
"Can you get me some more bandages?"  
"Oh...Sure." That seemed like a big fuss just for bandages. She ran back inside without a word of thanks.  
Since the gag shop was on the way to her medical centre, I decided to search for Ned Slinger first. The lights were on and I could see silhouettes in the window. I approached the shop and opened the door.  
Inside was clerk Clark- his eyelids were discolored due to the massive amount of work and stress. On the other side of the room, crouched beside a toon I didn't know, was Ned Singer.  
"Ned!" He looked up.  
"Neapolitan! Why are you here?" He asked me, suddenly turning serious.  
"Wiggle told me to find you. He was worried. Said you left a while ago." Ned stood up and stretched.  
"That I did. Trying to come up with a plan."  
"I'll tell Professor you're alright."  
"No need to," Ned says, taking his jacket from the rack by the door. He turned around.  
"You coming?" He asked me.  
"Ah, no. I have to run an errand." Ned snorted.  
"Run an errand." He started walking towards the door. "SO pretentious," he said, as he walked outside the shop. After a quick frown to myself I turned around to Clerk Clark.  
"Clark! I need some Seltzer bottles." He reached under the counter and handed me 2 of them. I reached into my pocket to get some jellybeans.  
"No need to," he says, yawning.  
"Are you sure? I have more than enough."  
"It's fine. Please, just go." I would've thought that as a rude thing to say, but he was obviously tired and overworked. Plus he was a nice guy, so I knew he didn't really mean it. But I still left him be anyway.  
I walked outside. Nancy's medical centre was on Punchline place. That was probably the best street in Toontown for a medical centre. As I walked towards the tunnel to Punchline place I opened up my backpack and stuck the bottles inside.  
Rope... Check... Bandages... Check. I got everything I needed. Except I ran out of room in my backpack. I frantically searched her office- trying to find anything that could carry anything else in.  
After some searching I found a blue drawstring bag. It was a darker blue- darker than my hair color. I stuck the supplies into the bag and swung it onto my back, over my backpack. I started making my way back to the headquarters.  
When I walked into the headquarters almost everybody was asleep in groups. Towards the corner where Nurse Nancy had been tending people, Ned Slinger and Professor Wiggle sat in chairs, asleep. Across them was Sir Astro reading some type of magazine. He saluted me without looking up. I set down the bandages on the small table where Nurse Nancy had been working. She was now fast asleep in her chair. I made my way to the other side of the room where Jesse had been earlier.  
If he wasn't asleep, he was on the verge of falling asleep.  
"Jesse?" I ask him quietly. His eyes shot open.  
"Ah... Neapolitan. What do you want again?" He asked, unsure of what I was doing. I pointed to the black haired girl.  
"Oh. That's right."  
"Do you still want me to go? Even though it's nighttime?" I ask him. He nodded.  
"Yeah... Just be careful." He rubbed his face. I walk up the stairs and to the door that led into the glass room.  
"Oh and Neapolitan!" His voice hinted that he was more awake now.  
"Yeah?"  
"Be back by sunrise. That's when we're leaving." I nod.  
"Alright." Jesse disappeared to some other part of the room.  
After a deep breath I opened up the door.  
She was asleep against one of the walls. I opened the drawstring bag that contained the ropes and took it out. I had already cut a good sized piece in the medical centre.  
Very quietly I walked up to her and started tying her hands together. She rustled into consciousness. I expected her to say 'what the fuck', and that was exactly what she said. After I tied her hands together I held the other end to make a sort of leash.  
"Now you're going to show me where Donald is," I told her. She turned her head slightly to the side.  
"Only if you don't bring me back here. I don't want to be in a glass case like some kind of animal." I stopped to think about that. Would Jesse let me do that? He said that we were leaving by sunrise. I highly doubted he wanted a penguin to join us.  
"Fine," I said reluctantly.  
I led her down the stairs and across the headquarters to the door. I saw Sir Astro eying us.  
We crossed Toontown central, then Punchline Place, then Barnacle Boulevard, and finally Donald's Dock.  
"This is where you lead," I tell her. She jerked forward and started walking towards the headquarters in Donald's Dock. She led me inside then into a backroom.  
In the middle, tied to a chair, was Donald. I dropped the rope and ran to him. I heard the door slam behind me and turned around to see that the girl had left. I started to undo the knots and took off the tape covering his mouth. It was red tape. Cog tape.  
"Donald!" I yelled. He opened his eyes. They were bloodshot. "Donald I'm here to save you, okay? I'm going to bring you back to Toontown central, I'm going to bring you to the hea-"  
"Get me Daisy, will you?" I looked at him.  
"What?"  
"Where is Daisy?" I stared at him. It must be shock.  
"I understand you're in shock, but we have to go," I tell him. His expression angered.  
"Get me Daisy." He insisted it a few more times.  
"Donald, do you not remember?" I ask him, suddenly very afraid that he didn't remember her death.  
"Daisy is-"  
"She's dead isn't she?" He asked.  
"Yeah." What? So he did remember? What was going on? He suddenly broke into a coughing fit.  
"Donald-" I stopped myself to stare at him. Was he dying? I had never seen a toon die...  
"Are you-?" I didn't want to completely finish that sentence, if I was wrong that would be pretty embarrassing. Through coughs he nodded.  
"Do you want me to-? Do you want me to go? Or?" God, what was I supposed to say? He nodded once more.  
"O-okay? I'll just leave then. I- Are you sure?" I say, standing up. He was frozen.  
"I-uh-a-alright."


	3. Chapter 3

I ran all the way to headquarters that night. Despite how tired I was, despite the fact that I was starving, I still ran. And it felt even better when I came to the headquarters.  
I entered in quietly so I wouldn't disturb anyone. Sir Astro was still reading. I walked over to the chair next to him and flopped down in it.  
"Where's Donald? And the girl?" He asks me, not looking away from the magazine.  
"Donald is dead. I let the girl go."  
"Donald's dead," he repeated.  
Sir Astro and Donald had a lot in common. They were both generals in the first war, and had both experienced PTSD. The only difference between them was that Sir Astro was forgotten as a general- instead he is known as a former drug dealer. Their age gap of about 40 years also made a difference. Donald was a lot more respectable than Sir Astro.  
Astro said something to me, but I found myself drifting off into sleep despite my hunger.  
After what seemed like a blink I felt something prodding my side, presumably to wake me up.  
"Neo!" I open my eyes instantly. Professor Wiggle was trying to get me awake.  
"What? What's wrong?" I ask, my words slurred and hardly audible.  
"We're leaving." I jolted out of the seat. After a seconds scan of the room, I saw that people were walking out the door.  
"Thanks for waking me up," I tell him. I walked beside Professor Wiggle to the door. Everybody was rushing outside and there was a large block.  
"So... The outskirts of Jamaa," I say, breaking the silence. Professor Wiggle sighed.  
"I hope we don't get caught. Or, if we do, I hope they don't care. But I highly doubt that." Professor Wiggle was a scholar, and if he didn't think it was a good idea to do something, then it probably wasn't.  
"Right... What would happen if we do get caught?" I ask him.  
"Well... Chances are we would be sold into slavery. Or something along those lines." It was hard not to shudder. The chances of being caught were already high enough. Now we would be sold into slavery?  
"Do you think we're going to be caught?" I ask him. He turned to me.  
"Honestly?" He asks. I nod.  
"Yes," he says. Even though I knew that was what he would say, it still made me scared.  
"What will we do then?" I ask him. A path finally cleared through the door. He sighed.  
"What can we do? We just have to see what happens." I let him go through the door before me. I briefly wondered what would happen to Jesse if we were caught, but that thought escaped my mind as I walked through the door.  
"But we're sticking together, Neapolitan," Professor Wiggle says. I turn my head towards him as we continue walking with the crowd.  
"I think it would be best," he adds, addressing my questioning look.  
"What about Sir Astro?" I ask. He frowned.  
"I'm not so sure I want a drug dealer in our group." I agreed, but also disagreed. Sure, Sir Astro might've been giving out sugar at some point, but he was also a general in the first world war.  
"I don't care if he was a general," Wiggle starts, as if he was reading my mind. "He isn't the same anymore. So we can't have him." I nod. It did make sense.  
"Okay."  
"That brings the question on who else will be in this so-called 'group' of ours."  
"Do we need anyone else?" I ask him.  
"Probably not."  
Jamaa was far away. It would take us, by foot, at least a week. That was interesting too, considering how compact Jamaa's ecosystems were. Toontown consisted mostly of vast plains- it was very easy to build and grow crops. That's why we were a rich country for a while. But all the food in the world couldn't have saved us from the depression we entered after the first world war. In that time Club Penguin had been forming underground and was already planning to attack us.  
The first world war was only about a decade ago. Sir Astro was in his twenties, Wiggle in his thirties, and I was about 13. The stress from being a general had caused Astro's hair to start graying, even though he was so young. On the other hand, Professor Wiggle was in his prime. His prices were cheap and the teachers who specified in children were at war, so he set off to teach kids. On every other day he would've taught Cog politics and economics to much older students, but money was short. I never sat in on any of those classes, though. I met Professor Wiggle through Ned Slinger.  
Like all other members of the Toontown society, I was scheduled to start killing cogs at age 16. But I had a natural talent in the art of cog killing. Jesse allowed me to start training 3 years before I was supposed to, and because of that I had to do a lot of running around only in Toontown Central. My first task had to do with Ned Slinger and, after seeing my situation, he told me about Professor Wiggle. I decided to sit in on a few of his classes- the ones for the older toons. But the depression had hit hard that year, and there were hardly any of them left. So instead Professor Wiggle became my sort of private tutor. I learned everything from him. I learned cog anatomy, cog politics, cog economics, and even things about him that he wouldn't tell anyone else.  
After I got a few years older and Toontown was growing into a suitable society again, Wiggle had me do more serious errands. Errands that gave me ulcers.  
So to deal with all the stress I contacted Nurse Nancy about prescription medication. She had given me some- stimulants that I was to take twice a day. And they did work at first.  
But then I outgrew them. The stress had won again and I was even lower than before. So I turned to the real stuff. Sugar.  
And that was how I met Sir Astro.  
The first thing I noticed about him was that he was a 'fight' sort of guy. In a dire situation, he would rather die than run away. I guess that was what made him a good general.  
So, he fought for my money.  
Despite how many bad things I had heard about Sugar, it seemed like the only option left for me. It wasn't terribly mind-altering- just enough for me to be detached and not stressed. And it didn't cause flashbacks or blackouts, so that was technically an added bonus.  
Except it was really addictive. After the first time I snorted it, I desperately searched for more. Any tiny bit of Sugar. It was a drug that made you addicted after your first time.  
So I got more from Astro. We weren't close like I was close with Professor Wiggle- It was more of a distributor-buyer kind of relationship. I wouldn't get in his way, and he wouldn't get in mine.  
After we both recovered we didn't have a reason to talk to each other anymore. When I did more tasks for the HQ in Donald's Dock, I often saw him on my way there. I guess we never got really close but we still trust each other, amazingly.


	4. Chapter 4

We reached the outskirts of Jamaa 2 weeks later. It had taken a day to set up camp as well as cure any sicknesses that we had caught. We hadn't run into any trouble throughout the travel, thankfully.  
My tent was set up overlooking the plains that led to Toontown. Of course it wasn't in sight anymore, but it felt good to at least see the plains that led to it.  
"Neapolitan. The fish is almost done," Professor Wiggle said to me one day as I was searching the plains for any sign of Toontown.  
"Fish?" I ask, standing up. Professor Wiggle nodded.  
He looked terrible. We all looked terrible, really. Most of our clothes were dirtied. I had taken it upon myself to wash my clothes after everyone had gone to sleep, though.  
"But doesn't fish mean a fire?" I ask, as Professor Wiggle led me to the area where our dinner was being finished. The sun was in the process of falling down and the effect of that left a red glow. The clouds built up, threatening to cover the sun and shower us with water.  
"It does. I suppose Jesse thought it was safe enough."  
I considered what Professor Wiggle said. It might've been safe if Jamaa wasn't crazy about security. I had heard stories about black helicopters flying over Jamaa and occasionally picking up residents who partook in illegal activities or attempted creating an uprising. Jamaa was incredibly overpopulated, though, so I reasoned it would be an impossible act to cleanse the entire community. I had also heard stories about poverty and how gems, their main currency, was precious and mine workers had to dig deeper and deeper to find more. It sounded terrible.  
"What if we're caught?" I ask Professor Wiggle. We had `a similar conversation a few weeks earlier.  
"We'd probably be forced to work for them. Or be sent into slavery." He paused. "Or killed," he added, almost as an afterthought.  
"What about Crystal Bay?" I ask him.  
"Crystal Bay? We're not really terrorists, Neo. But I could see them doing that. Not to everyone. But maybe to Jesse."  
Crystal Bay was a detention camp. If entered, you would be interrogated and tortured, only almost to the point of death. They claimed it was only for terrorists, but they also put other people from different countries, regardless of whether or not they were a direct threat.  
"Jesse... He can't go to Crystal Bay," I say. Professor Wiggle nodded.  
"No, he can't go. And we have to make sure he doesn't," I add.  
"Alright, Neapolitan. We'll protect him."  
We made our way up to the large fire pit. Some of the more better known toons were sitting around it, while everybody else was most likely in their tents.  
"Hey Neapolitan!" I found Jesse waving his arms to me.  
"Hey Jesse," I say as I walk up to him. He pats his hand on a seat next to him and I sit. Professor Wiggle sits on the seat next to me. Through smoke I see Ned Slinger sitting across from me.  
"I think this will be nice. Toontown 2.0," Jesse says. Ned and Professor Wiggle nodded in agreement.  
"Jesse what if we're-" I was cut off by the whirring of blades and the low rumbling of a large machine. The fire was blown out by the sudden gust of wind, and my hair was tossed from side to side. I sprung up from my seat and searched the sky for clues as to what made the sound.  
The sun had already fully set which made it harder to see, but I eventually found the small glint of metal, reassuring me that it was a Jamaa helicopter.  
"Jesse!" I yell, because I know that they are going to take him and send him to Crystal Bay.  
All at once people are yelling and running from their tents towards the plains. People run into me and block my view, making it impossible to find Jesse.  
"Jesse!" I call once more for good measure. But the helicopter disappeared. I felt something being pressured against the space between my shoulder blades. I instinctively raised my hands like I always saw people do when guns were pushed against them.  
My mouth was covered with a gag and some sort of material was placed over my head. My wrists were tied and I felt myself being led by the Jamaarians.  
When the bag was pulled off of my head I was in a large room with people I recognized. Ned Slinger was a few feet away from me, his hands handcuffed like mine. The gag had been pulled out of my mouth allowing me to speak, but I decided against it, even though I wanted to say something to him. My mind wandered to Professor Wiggle and Jesse. Where were they? I didn't see either of them in the room. The only people I did recognize were Nancy, Clark, and Ned Slinger. That fact that we were handcuffed and had previously had bags over our heads made me think we were at Crystal Bay... But why would I be? Like Professor Wiggle said, I'm not a terrorist. But then again, neither was Jesse, and he wasn't in the room. I guess I wasn't a direct threat, while Jesse technically was.  
"Let him keep the thing Major!" I looked up. Somebody had walked in. And they were carrying a red pet. I squinted to make out who it was and then I noticed the pet was Ravioli. And a second later I noticed Professor Wiggle.  
The person who had told "Major" to let Professor Wiggle was a young man. He had light gray hair, but he wasn't old. Jamaarians just had natural earth-tone colored hair. He was real big- not overweight- strong. I could tell he had years of experience in more physical jobs.  
He was holding a large gun and wore a black vest over a gray shirt. None of the other Jamaarians in the room had a vest, so that made me think he was the leader.  
Suddenly he took Ravioli from Professor Wiggle's arms and signaled to another guard to take Professor Wiggle away. Each guard had a Toon, until I was the only one left and the gray-haired man approached me.  
He took me by the arm and started leading me outside, the same direction the other Toons had gone. Then he turned to me suddenly, stopping both of us from walking. He pointed at a small wiring system on his ear that extended under his shirt. I knew that had to mean something, but I had no idea what. He led me down the dirt path the other Toons had taken. There were desert-y type bushed all around us, and the sun burned my skin. I noticed a tiny purple-roofed building that was set next to a windmill towards the place we were going. There was a small wooden deck that extended to the top of a canyon, which I assumed we were going. But as we neared I noticed another thing.  
Gallows.  
Were the going to hang us? I was thoroughly surprised that they still had them here. I knew Jamaa was barbaric, but I didn't think they were this bad.  
They led us directly under the deck, where the gallows were. The entire place, which had a sign labeled "Kimbara Outback", was empty. The only other noticeable thing was a sign that read "THE GREAT NATURE PROJECT." I didn't have enough time to read it, but I saw a lot of interesting writing.  
We were once again lined up. The gray-haired man had disappeared into the purple-roofed building and re-appeared without Ravioli. What did he do to him?  
I searched for Professor Wiggle. I found him at the far left, eying the gallows with the same suspicion I had. I remembered history lessons with him when he would explain the public hangings that took place in Neopia. I wonder if he was remembering the same story?  
I looked back at the gallows. I didn't take a good long look at them, only a brief glance- long enough to have a panic attack. But I realized that they looked old. The wood was rotted and weak, and there was only one feeble rope hanging when there was room for four. That would take ages to kill all of us. Maybe they would only kill a few.  
While I was lost in thought a loud whistle sounded and a man, older and much more scarier looking than any of the guards, had stood on the base of the gallows.  
"You will be taken and trained to the occupation guards think you fit." As scary as he was, at least something was being explained. The gray-haired guy shoved me towards some other toons who had large builds. That didn't make any sense. I hardly had muscle. Clerk Clark, I noticed, was in my group. Finally our handcuffs were taken off.  
I saw one toon, one I didn't recognize, attempt to run away towards the plains that we took here. A guard immediately caught him and restrained him once more, then led him to a whole new group. Would he be killed?  
"Anybody that tried to escape will be thrown into slavery," the man standing on the gallows adds, with a crooked smile. That would've been a lot nicer if you said that before, I think.  
"Plains group!" I turned to the guard that yelled that. The group mostly consisted of women. The guard led them down the canyon and to the plains.  
"Military!" I wondered who was in military. Sir Astro would probably be.  
Sir Astro...  
I had completely forgotten about him. Where was he? I didn't see him in the room. I didn't see him now.  
"Smart asses!" I turned to find Professor Wiggle and a few others in the group that was just called. "Smart asses" must be code for teacher or professor. Wiggle definitely deserved the spot. It was out of character for Jamaa to not value education, though.  
"You 5 will be new miners." I looked up to find, once again, the gray-haired man. He didn't scream "miners." He seemed... Nice.  
"My name is Brave. I will be your instructor." He pointed towards the north and our group turned to see what he was gesturing to.  
"That's Mt. Shiveer. You'll be living and working there." I could make out its general shape, but the mountain was too far away to see any details.  
"The first day of training will be split. I will take two today and Major," he said, pointing to a man not too far away, "will be taking the other three." Brave nodded to myself and Clark.  
"You two, follow me. There's no time to spare."


End file.
